Parachutist shoe



Nov. 24, 1942.

R. W. JENNINGS PARACHUTIST SHOE Filed April 10, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 24, 1942.

w. JENNINGS PARACHUTI'ST SHOE Filed April 10 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 grwwvbop W W 20 Ra/pbWLfe some manner to fully support and Patented Nov.'24,

'- UNITED. STATES-PAT mnscno'rrsr snon Ralph Jennings, Cambridge, Mass. Application April 1c, 1942, Serial No. 438,385

' 2 Claims. (or. 36-25) (Granted under theact of March 3, 1883,'as v amendedApril 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

The present invention relates to shoes, but

more particularly to shoes used by parachutists of the armed forces. v

A shoe, to be adapted for this particular use, must be'light, flexible and yet be constructed in protect the ankles and feet of the jumper, 4

Heretofore; shoes of this type have been con- A'further object of the invention is to provide a shoe which is generally of a new and improved construction, which may be manufactured at a low and reasonable cost and is more comfortable than shoes previously designed for this particular purpose.

Its low cost is also a material improvement because the wearer may remove and'abandon the shoes after the jump without sacrificing anyof his efilciency or placing a great loss upon the supplies of the Government. I I

structed of very flexible leather which has been.

strong enough to'support the ankle and yet have some resiliency, but these shoes, while being well adapted for jumping purposes-have been verytected and heavy box toe adapted-to have a stif- However, in order to support fening member incorporated therein'to protect thetoes of the wearer.

Another object is to provide supporting means in the uppers to protect the ankles of the wearer,

the upper being so constructed that it is higher than the usual high shoe but not extending ashigh on the leg of the wearer as the well-known,

"high-top or boot shoe.

Another object of the invention is to provide protecting means for the tarsus or ginglymus joint which lies between the tibia and fibula and the astragalus of the wearer's leg,

Another object of the invention is to provide a soft and highly resilient inner sole which is adapted to soften the shock of the landing of the.

wearer from the heights from' which the jump is made even though his descent is softened'by ,the parachute.

Another objectof the'invention is to provide two closures for the shoe, one of which uses the slide type fastener for a quick removal of the shoe from the wearers foot and the other the lace type, which permits the wearer to lace the shoe in such and thus prevent chafing or any looseness around the ankle which would decrease, by irritation, the maximum efliciency of the wearer.

Other objects of the invention and the variousadvantages and characteristics of the I shoe will be apparent from thefully detailed description and the drawings which accompanying and forma part of this specification and'in which like reference numerals denote corresponding. partsthroughout the several views.

Fig. 1 is a perspective of the shoe embodying the invention. i p

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the shoe.

'Fig. 3 is a diagrammatical sectional view onthe line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the shoe taken through the center on thellne 4-4 of Fig. l, and i Fig. 5 is a diagrammaticalsectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2. a

Referring now to the drawings-humeral N indicates as a whole the illustrated. embodiment of the invention,- having the upper part divided into two sid portions H and I2. A folding tongue. I3, which is a continuation of the lining i4, is made sufllcientlywide to close the gap betweenthe side portions 'II and and is adapted to fold back at the side of the leg when the sho e is properly fastened.

The side portions II and I2 are adapted to be closed by any well-known fastener means l5 having a slide l6 which has a tape or leather tie I! connected thereto to give a better gripping means for the hands of the wearer. v

There is located adjacent to the fastening means IS a second fastening means I 8 which is closed by means of the ordinary shoe lace "19. This second fastening means permits the shoe to be adjusted to snugly fit the foot and leg of the.

wearer and once adjusted need not be untied unless the shoe'or lace should stretch or the size a manner that it will fit the wearers ankle snugly or contour of the foot and ankle of the wearer should change. In order to brace the ankle there are incorporated in the side portions II and I2 strips of fiber 2li'whieh are interposed substantially longitudinally between the lining andthe outer por- ENT; OFFICE tion of the shoe and since they are completely covered by the outer portion they form bulges 2| on the exterior of the side portions. There is also inserted between the lining and both sides of the exterior of the shoe a protector 22, con-' sisting of a circular piece of fiber which forms a shield or guard of a hard substance to protect the ginglymus jointof the wearer's foot. The

protector 22 is interposed between a-lining l4 and an inner patch H of the same material, which prevents the protector from being loosened from the lining I! by the constant insertion and removal of the wearer's foot. Thus, there is formed on the exterior of the shoe a bulge or protuberance 23 which conforms to thesize and shape of the protector 22. It will be seen, there-v fore, that when the shoe is on the foot the hard protectors will protect from injury, to a certain extent, the ginglymus joint of the foot. r

Additional protection is afforded to the wearer's foot by a heavy fiber protector 24 in the toe 25 of the shoe l0. In orderto prevent shock when landing, a

" heavy sponge or foam rubber inner sole 26 is provided in the shoe and has been found to absorb more of the shock than the shoe for this purpose.

The present invention has been designed to use rubber, either natural or synthetic, but it is to be understood that the materialused is not to previously used' be restricted, to the use of rubber, since other materials may beused inlieu thereof.

While the invention has been shown and described in a preferred form, various changes and modifications-may be made without departing from the principles of the invention, the scope of which lsto be determined by the appended securin together adjacent parts of the outer' portion, a lace-fastening unit parallel to the path of said slide-fastening unit and a cushioning iner sole of yielding material applied over and secured to the outer sole of the shoe.

2. A parachutists shoe, comprising an outer portion, a reinforced toe, a lining, longitudinal reinforcements and hard substance ankle protectors interposed between the lining and the outer portion, said reinforcements and said ankle protectors adapted to protect the anklezand ginglymus joint of the foot, a slide-fastening unit for securing together adjacent parts of the outer portion, a continuation of the lining adapted to form a tongue to cover the opening between the outer portions, said tongue adapted to lie in a substantially flat position when the slide-fastening unit is completely closed, a lace-fastening unit parallel to the path of said slide-fastening unit and a cushioning inner sole of yielding material applied over and secured to the outer,

sole of the shoe.

RALPH W. JENNINGS. 

